The Braves have a handful of areas on the roster that have yet to be settled, even with Opening Day only a little over a week away. The fifth starter competition has been upended since the beginning of spring, as Michael Soroka has once again struggled with injuries while early favorites Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder fell out of favor thanks to excellent springs from prospects Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd. The final spot in the bullpen and the fourth outfielder position are other areas with uncertainty, but perhaps the most interesting camp battle at this point in the Spring is one few expected headed into the year.
As noted by Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the shortstop position is still up for grabs, though most considered youngster Vaughn Grissom all but locked into the role as camp began last month. Since then, though, prospect Braden Shewmake has paired already-excellent defense with a torrid spring at the plate as he’s slashed .333/.400/.482 in 12 grapefruit league games. While it seems that the most likely conclusion to this remains Grissom as the starting shortstop, backed up by Orlando Arcia, Shewmake has made a case for himself this spring, and it’s worth noting that his left-handed bat could serve as a better complement to the right-handed Arcia than Grissom, who also bats righty. Toscano notes that it seems unlikely the Braves would roster both players to open the season, but it’s reasonable to expect that even if Shewmake fails to take the starting shortstop gig for himself to open the season, an opportunity to make his big league debut will open up at some point this season.
More from around the NL East…
- Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo tells reporters, including Joel Sherman of the New York Post, that he was “relieved” following his diagnosis with a sprained knee and ankle that there was no structural damage in either area. Nimmo believes he will still be ready for Opening Day next week, which is surely a relief for Mets fans who recently lost fellow high-dollar returning free agent signing Edwin Diaz for the season to knee surgery. Should Nimmo miss time, it seems likely that would open up playing time for the likes of Tommy Pham and Tim Locastro.
- Phillies GM Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, that he still expects top prospect Andrew Painter to make his big league debut at some point this season. Painter was diagnosed with a UCL sprain earlier this spring which took him out of the fifth starter competition in Philadelphia, but the young right-hander has not been recommended for Tommy John surgery, instead attempting to rehab the injury after a four week shutdown. Should the rehab route prove successful, it’s no surprise that Painter would be in the mix to make his debut later this season, as he proved himself to be clearly MLB-ready with a dominant spring prior to the sprain.
“A GOOD way for the Mets to lose is for their players to get hurt”. True? Well true for every team, right? And lets be sure to not call that hate, its just dislike
The internet is a great way to hide but everyone can still tell they/it needs psychiatric help. Care or not never matters, what matters is the truth. BooHoo will be the response lol.
“needs psychiatric help” … oh, now I see that Tommy Pham was mentioned in the piece.
You mean to tell me a team that ignored every single one of their holes during free agency has multiple undecided roster spots midway through Spring Training?
Ya don’t say….
Swanson gone…. Nothing done to replace him
Jansen gone…. Nothing done to replace him.
Outfield has been a hole for multiple seasons now… nothing done to fill it
Final rotation spot? This is the one area where it made sense not to bring someone in, because they do have options, especially with Soroka trying to come back. This should be the only question mark if this team really wanted to win. But instead we have 4 big question marks instead of 1.
We brought in joe jimenez to replace Jansen, and also signed nick Anderson which could turn out to be low risk, high reward. Oh and that Lucas luetge guy too. Bullpen was definitely addressed. Shortstop was going to be passed down to the youngsters this season anyway, and left field? One of these guys will perform at least decently this upcoming season. We could be in a far worse shape than this.
Jimenez replaces O’Day at best. Nick Anderson is a wild card coming off injuries that we’re hoping sticks.
But you’re right, that’s exactly how the Braves replace people. Throw up a Hail Mary and hope someone catches it. If they do the team looks genius. If they don’t oh well no harm no foul. Better than making a play for someone who actually sets expectations because if that doesn’t work out then you look bad.
That’s how the Braves play it every year.
Personally I’d rather be in the Mets situation with Diaz. At least they went out and gave themselves a chance with an elite bullpen arm. Yeah it turned ugly but that’s baseball. They had a much better chance of it ending well than the Braves do with Nick Anderson. Hindsight is always 20/20 so anyone who tries to pretend they’d rather be in the Braves situation with Anderson than the Mets situation with Diaz is coping.
Yeah because a young flame thrower with great underlying stats is an old slow side winding pitcher at best. yep you are definitely a troll, I’m done with this discussion
That last paragraph told me everything I needed to know.
Let me get this right…you’d rather be in the Mets situation paying a record RP contract to a guy that will miss most likely the entire season…? Read that back. Yes, let’s overpay at a position that has been one of the least expensive to replace. ATL invested heavily in McHugh last year, who has turned out well and took on Iglesias 48M anticipating he’d become closer with Jansen leaving…oh, and MLB’s best setup man in 2022: Minter. This idea because they didn’t wait until FA, that inflates the RP market where most aren’t deals, is very near-sided. AA gets his shopping done early, before the FA set/inflate the market. Not hard to see that.
@RunDMC: The Mets aren’t responsible for paying Diaz while he’s on the IL. MLB is.
What’s up with the RED glasses, BLUE Baron???
@Ignorant: My other eyeglasses are blue. Is that OK with you?
Raisel Iglesias was brought in last season and Joe Jimenez and Nick Anderson were brought in over the winter.
Grissom has been the consensus pick to replace Swanson since the end of last season so that has been the plan with Shewmake knocking on the door as well. Also the Braves have 5 Shortstops in their top 18 prospects list.
They didn’t add big names to the OF but did add Jordan Luplow, Sam Hilliard, Kevin Pillar, and Eli White to go with Acuna/Harris/Rosario/Ozuna
I wouldn’t say they’ve done nothing
Even without Jansen, the Braves have a good bullpen. Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, Collin McHugh, then added Joe Jimenez and Lucas Luetge this winter. I’m confident that the Braves will have an internal option for shortstop or the final spot in the rotation. Last five seasons, they’ve had someone recieve at least one ROY vote. In 2018 it was Acuna, 2019 Soroka, 2020 and 2021 it was Ian Anderson, and last year was Harris and Strider. The Braves are really good at developing guys, and I’d be confident in their decision making to not sign a starting pitcher or shortstop this off-season if they belive one of their prospects can take over effectively.
Bullpen was the lowest of those needs, so I don’t disagree. If they wanted to wait until midseason to address the pen with another quality arm things would have been fine that way too. That is… assuming they bothered at all to fix OF or SS
All I see is a bunch of cope from Braves fans in the other posts.
This forum is notorious for fans burying their head in the sand to feel ok about the Braves lack of effort to do everything they can to put a World Series contender on the field. The Mets and Phillies, for all their blunders in their efforts, at least put in full effort to bring that talent in. They definitely aren’t perfect which is why the Braves have been fortunate to win the division at times, but they try. The Braves really put minimal effort toward winning. Their model is to throw a bunch of prospects on the field and hope they pan out.
Right now it has worked so of course all the Braves fans sit here and act all hyped up about how great the org has done in extending these guys. Extended what exactly? The years they already had control over them through arb with maybe 1 or 2 extra years tacked on? The Braves org is a master at deception to most of these low IQ Braves fans, I will give them credit there.
However in the long run this model will fail. You won’t always have every prospect clicking like this. More often than not this team will be bad. Now we’re doing it again only this time with Grissom and likely future pitchers like Dodd. It’s a matter of time before this method collapses on them. That’s why it’s more important than ever for the Braves to finally show up and supplement those prospects clicking with a few proven pieces to carry them over the top where there are gaps. But they don’t do it.
Having all of these young guys surface and produce immediately is rare. Think about it… Harris, Riley, Acuna, Albies, Fried, Strider, Wright…. How often do you get 7 guys step on the field and burst onto the scene posting up ROY type numbers, or even in some cases, flirting with Cy or MVP numbers, all within a few years of each other?
If this never happens again for the Braves organization in the next 25 years you’d still say the Braves came out beating the odds to have it happen.
God forbid when it does they pony up and fill in the gaps. But nah… let’s keep rolling the dice with Grissom… or legit ignore that we had the worst corner OF WAR in all of baseball… I mean we threw enough stuff at the wall in 2021 for the outfield and it worked so why not just keep doing that method (ahem Rosario)…. Probably because anyone with an above average IQ knows the Braves were extremely fortunate that outfield fired on all cylinders. It was a good move at the time because of the state of the team, but to continue relying on it and trying to repeat it is foolish. It’s why our corner outfield spot last year was horrendous, and why it will be equally horrendous this year.
But hey… we’re still talented enough to win the division. So all the Braves fans on this forum in denial will always be able to hang their hat on that. The rest of us who can see the forest through the trees recognizes we’re just repeating history again from the 90s where the Braves have a chance for a true dynasty sitting in their lap only to watch their ineptitude result in what will likely only be 1 WS in this time period.
I know I’ve seen this episode before. Maybe the rest of you need to wake up.
The Braves have a top payroll.
The Braves have their position core locked up for about 5 more seasons or so.
Yes, one day way down the road they will have to rebuild.
You used a lot of words to push a false narrative, and to tell us all what everyone here already knows: no dynasty lasts forever.
You MUST be a Mets fan!!!
Everyone replying provides sound counter points to your baseless comments and you reply with 10 paragraphs lol. Just take the L and admit you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.
@mj2: You were on this same short sighted rant last summer when you whined every day that the Braves were going to finish in 3rd place and miss the playoffs until…….they didn’t. While most Braves fans probably wish the organization had a better succession plan at SS, they also realize that paying $177M for 6 years of Swanson would have been a questionable (at best) organizational financial decision. Same goes for left field. They’ve got more than enough cash tied up in the position. AA’s plan for positive regression from Ozuna/Rosario while adding low cost lottery tickets like Hilliard, Luplow , and White as options in left field is reasonable. A better option there won’t happen until the organization can lessen the total cost currently being spent on the position. How can you whimper about their spending? They’re presently on the edge of going over the first luxury tax tier (mostly because of AAV’s associated w/their excellent contract extensions.) You’d be in a straight jacket if you were a Reds or Pirates fan. Btw, constantly ranting that those who disagree w/your bloviations are “low IQ Braves fans” probably isn’t the best way to accumulate a cult following for your “End of the Braves World” message.
Grissom, Arcia, and Shewmake were already on the roster to replace him. Jansen being gone is a blessing as it is but Anderson and Jimenez were brought in and Yates is healthy. Rosario is back and his vision normal again. They also have Ozuna, Hilliard, White, and Luplow. They may not be the players you preferred but your preference doesn’t matter. Just because positions aren’t settled yet, it doesn’t mean they don’t have a player to fill it.
Yet somehow they are the favorite to win the division and probably will…
Imagine thinking you’re done because you’re the favorite to win the division when you have a real chance to be the favorite to win the World Series
This is the mentality that cripples the Braves org and its fans. Favorite to win the division is always the goal it seems. Never striving for more. Those 14 straight division titles might be more of a curse than a blessing. Ever since that run this fanbase and org pride themselves more on division titles than World Series titles.
Sad!
Did we not literally just win the world series the season before last? We aren’t going to win it every single year, that would take everything going right the whole season and post season, and that’s not feasible. But to say we aren’t striving for world series championships when we literally just won one is stupid. Stop being a troll.
You have to be in it to win it. I would much rather have my team making the playoffs consistently than not. Most Braves fans know who we are and it’s not the Mets spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave. Filling SS internally is a Braves type move instead of over paying. We still have more WS in the past 25 years than a good chunk of league. Be grateful for what you have and not envious of what others have. Braves are and will be just fine being competitive for years to come
I wish I could remember the name you used to post your idiotic takes under.
A team that is a year removed from a championship is a crippled organization?
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
I don’t know what world you’re living in that 14 straight division titles might be a curse, but it ain’t Earth.
You act like the Braves have a thousand holes, when in reality they only have one in LF. And worst case, every LF on the roster tries and fails, it’s still one of the easiest positions to fill at the trade deadline.
Chill.
It’ll be okay.
@Sid: He used to be MJ….thus the “2” now. No reasoning w/that guy because he’s stuck on his never changing rant.
“Dude we just won a World Series..”
How sad is this? Soon it will be the only one. You guys think these chances are just always going to be there. They won’t. This team needs to be all in to get as much as they can the next 5-6 years with how things have shaped up with their young core.
You keep wasting years saying “well they won last year so it’s ok”…. Then it’s “well two years ago as champion is still pretty good”
Before you know it it’s been 5 years gone by and this team is on its last leg with one or two more real attempts before they cycle through another down period.
And yes they will hit another down period. They don’t spend like the Dodgers and Yankees so they’re much more likely to go through cycles when things are working and when they need to re-tool.
In 5 years when the Braves only have 1 WS and are back to finishing 3rd or 4th in the division don’t cry that they missed a golden opportunity. All of you are supporting these decisions. You’ll deserve everything you get by the time you realize they let this opportunity slip through their fingers. This team is good enough to win 3 championships over a 10 year span if they really went after it considering the core they have.
Given their approach though, the one we have is the only one we’ll see. So keep referring to that memory. I hope you really enjoyed it, because you’re not gonna see another one for awhile at this rate.
Couple of hundred works and you said nothing.
You got the winning lottery numbers by chance?
If you cry anymore you may drown in your pointless tears.
Thanks Jeff, I thought that was it. His writing style is certainly unique so I knew I recognized it, and his tales are always ridiculously stupid. He writes about the Braves but I don’t think he’s actually a Braves fan.
You’re welcome Sid. I don’t think he is either (a Braves fan), but that’s what he says about us too, lol.
Apparently you missed it mj-2 when the Braves added Raisel Iglesias, who at this point in time is a better reliever than Kenley Jansen, last summer. They didn’t give up much to get him. That was their plan to begin with, to slide him into the closer role in 2023. Duhhhhh!!!
Well, they have won 2 Series, 1995 and 2021, since the Mets’ last won it in 1986. And the Phillies only won in 2008 and 1980 in recent memory. So they’re doing a bit better than their rivals in terms of winning it all. Winning a championship is hard to do with any regularity, what with 30 teams to compete against.
Wow!
I think grissom is still the starting shortstop. I think the braves saying that it’s between grissom and shewmake is nothing but smoke and mirrors to make it seem as if there actually has been competition for the starting gig. Grissom has done nothing this spring to have his starter status upended, plus he already has major league experience. Shewmake is having a great spring, but his minor league offensive numbers show a different story. I think he will still be a serviceable mlb player, but to pencil him in as the starting shortstop on opening day is asinine. Arcia hasn’t had too bad a spring either. But what do I know?
Without the shift, they might value the defensive player vs the offensive bat with
a still developing glove. If the rest of the lineup provides as much offense as they expect, a defensive first SS batting 9th should be fine. This would also give Grissom more time to develop as the long term option bc his bat is significantly better. Only 22 games at AA and 22 years old.
No, we have to turn things upside down because reasons. You’re exactly right, none of this discussion is happening internally with the Braves. Great spring for Shewmake, still just one spring. It’s going to be Vaughan Grissom’s job until he plays himself out of it.
Bo Graves!!
I wish Painter the best but for JHC DD let him rehab and ramp back up slowly so no career changing surgery is needed,.. DD throwing out these expectations for Painter in 2023 is horrible. . It’s no wonder DD’s MLB team life cycle is five years and out..
Dombrowski is throwing out 2023 expectations for Painter because he’s arguably the best SP prospect in the game and might be MLB ready already.
100% skull. Why risk the health of such a talented kid? DD doesn’t care about in 5 years when he’s likely gone, he’s about winning now. No matter the cost.
I don’t think they’re rushing him at all. He’s been shutdown as a precaution. He’s already MLB-ready and they’re slowing him down. You’re reading too much into this. DD has improved the Phillies farm rather drastically.
Forrest Whitley 2.0
For ATL, LF still may be an area of need, but Rosario and Ozuna have looked good at the plate (Rosario splitting time in the WBC). Hope both can continue good ABs.
Is two considered a handful?
The fact that there is competition and it’s becoming a tough decision for Snit is a GOOD thing! Season hasn’t started yet and some fans are ready to flush 2023 down the toilet. This is STILL a good team. Grab your foam Tomahawk and show up to Truist April 6th and support these guys no matter who is at SS,LF,DH,5th starter or coming out the BP. As long as it’s Braves across the chest I’m all in. Let’s Go Braves Country!